Almost Turkish Recipes

İnegöl Meatballs (İnegöl Köftesi)



























One of the renowned kofte recipes in Turkey, İnegöl kofte, was created by Mustafa Efendi, a Bulgarian immigrant to İnegöl in Bursa in the late 19th century. Just lile Tekirdağ kofte, you can find İnegöl kofte all around Turkey, however you can eat the best kofte in İnegöl.

An İnegölian friend Apo used to make delicious İnegöl kofte for us. After he moved back to Turkey, I tried to find the recipe online. Traditionally İnegöl kofte has no spice or bread crumbs, yet most of the recipes I found had either one or both. Apo was so kind to e-mail his recipe. In the last year I made multiple batches of İnegöl kofte from the following traditional and not-so-traditional recipes. We and our friends liked them all. Therefore I decided to post them all in an order that I like them. These meatballs are seriously delicious, you won't regret trying.



























İnegöl Meatball Recipe #1 (traditional)

2 lb ground meat (%20 lamb and %80 beef)
1 1/2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp salt
1 onion, grated

-Knead groundmeat well with salt and baking soda. Cover and put in the fridge and let rest for one full day.
-Next day, 2-3 hours before cooking add grated onion and mix well. Put back in the fridge and let rest until it's time to cook.
-Take walnut-size pieces of ground meat and roll into small balls, and press slightly in between your palms, or give it a fat finger shape.
-You can either throw them on the grill, or broil them until cooked on one side and then flip them over, or cook them on a non-stick pan on both sides on medium with no oil.
-Use as many as you need. The rest can be placed on a flat surface, a plate or a tray--they should not touch each other, and then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, you can take them off the plate and put in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for future use.

Apo's recipe



























İnegöl Meatball Recipe #2 (with bread crumbs)

makes ~40-45 small meatballs

2 lb ground beef (%80 lean, %20 fat)
1/2 cup stale bread ground into crumbs
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp salt
2 heaping tsp baking soda
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
2 medium onions, grated

-Put ground beef, bread crumbs, water, and salt in a bowl and knead for 10 minutes.
-Let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours, i.e. forget about it for a whole day.
-The next morning, mix baking soda and lemon juice in a small cup and pour it over ground meat mix.
-Add grated onion and mıx well.
-Cover and put back in the fridge for a couple of more hours.
-Take walnut-size pieces of ground meat and roll into small balls, and press slightly in between your palms, or give it a fat finger shape.
-You can either throw them on the grill, or broil them until cooked on one side and then flip them over, or cook them on a non-stick pan on both sides on medium with no oil.
-Use as many as you need. The rest can be placed on a flat surface, a plate or a tray--they should not touch each other, and then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, you can take them off the plate and put in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for future use.

adapted from
evcini's recipe



























İnegöl Meatball Recipe #3 (with spice)

makes 40-45 small meatballs

2 lb ground beef (%80 lean, %20 fat)
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 medium onions, grated
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp oregano leaves
1 tsp cumin powder

-Put ground beef, milk, and salt in a bowl.
-Mix baking soda and lemon juice in a small bowl, and add it to ground mear mix.
-Knead it for 10 minutes. Cover and put in the fridge for approximately 12 hours.
-The next day or after 12 hours, add black pepper, cumin, oregano, minced garlic, and grated onion. Knead well. Let sit in the fridge for an hour or two.
-Take walnut-size pieces of ground meat and roll into small balls, and press slightly in between your palms, or give it a fat finger shape.
-You can either throw them on the grill, or broil them until cooked on one side and then flip them over, or cook them on a non-stick pan on both sides on medium with no oil.
-Use as many as you need. The rest can be placed on a flat surface, a plate or a tray--they should not touch each other, and then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, you can take them off the plate and put in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for future use.

adapted from Derya Ünal who gave the recipe in a comment she posted on evcini's inegöl köfte recipe.

Do not forget the most important thing in making İnegöl kofte is to let the meat rest.

19 comments:

  1. I'm sure I would love all 3 of these recipes Burcu.

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  2. I'm intrigued by the addition of baking soda! They all sound very tasty.

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  3. I cookked it before by learning from evcini's, we liked it very much all our family, it's very similar to orijinal İnegöl meatball, the same taste and softness

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  4. I have never had anything like this, Burcu. But I would love to try! Happy New Year, my friend!

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  5. Anonymous7:16 AM

    I ate something that reminds me of these when I visited Turkey a few years ago. And from what i remember i know that these are just so god!
    Yummy!

    // Jennie, a swedish food-blogger.

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  6. Wow! I will be trying new meatballs recipes very soon! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Anonymous11:17 AM

    I love your blog because I love Turkish food. How do you serve your kofte? I traveled in Turkey and mostly ate in family homes. The food was always delicious.

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  8. Anonymous12:23 AM

    inegol kofte looks delicious!!!
    Can't wait to try this recipe!

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  9. Anonymous-Inegol kofte is usually served with salad or/and rice. However, you can serve it with anything you want, as a sandwich, with rice,pasta, gnocchi, mashed potatoes, grits, bulgur pilaf, etc.

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  10. Anonymous11:18 PM

    This sounds so delicious. I often look for authentic recipes for a variety of cuisines, and am disappointed with what I find. I'm bookmarking this so that I know where it is when I want it. Thanks so much for sharing it!

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  11. I never seem to be able to get my meatballs to look as moist and juicy as yours. I think it perhaps has to do with the meats I use.

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  12. Anonymous7:46 PM

    I love these meatballs they look delicious. I don't think I have ever used milk. Will have to give it a try.

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  13. Anonymous1:56 PM

    Inegol kofte is one my favorites among other TUrkish koftes. I wish I had a chance to eat them in Inegol. Next time I go to Turkey:)

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  14. My son-in-law, Sejo, who is from the former Yugoslavia taught me to always use baking soda or soda water in cevapcici, and any ground meat to be grilled. My favourite is to mix 50% beef/50% lamb. Of course we use Vegeta, and Aleppo pepper, even paprika sometimes.

    The soda helps maintain moisture and to brown the meat.

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  15. Anonymous2:28 AM

    these look delicious!

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  16. thanks for sharing another great one!
    Gizmo is correct, when i passed through Croatia i ate cevapcicis and thought they were similar to inegol koftes.

    I gave it a go and they taste delicious! only i need a little help. I tried recipe #1

    I grill them in the oven on the lowest settign as they cook quickly. when i pull them out they are puffed and delicious looking, then when they cool they go wrinkly and the skin is a little chewy - have i dont something wrong? is that 1.5 tablespoon of baking soda to 1 kg meat? they sell Dr Oetker karbonat pakets, was this correct?

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  17. Hi Lizzy, I'm glad you liked them and as to the problem; honestly I never had them cold, we're way too inpatient and eat the bunch at once. But I guess the wrinkliness as well ass chewiness is a result of baking soda. You're not doing anything wrong; Dr. Oetker packages are fine. The soda makes them puffy and delicious, but I guess the disadvante is it also makes them chewy when they cool off.

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  18. Try adding grated mozzarella. This is authentic and yummy. I found it tastes good cold this way too.

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  19. Anonymous6:18 PM

    Wow. I didn't know inegol köfte was so easy to make. Tried the traditional with some cumin and it was perfect. Romanians love this too, it is called mici. Thanks for sharing,

    Özgür

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